His Rose
by pyxistar
Summary: Adrien wakes up in the hospital and realizes that, for the first time, they lost... [A request for a friend on MLB amino]


_The akuma hovered above them. Adrien wasn't used to fighting in the dark, but thanks to his night vision, he didn't find it too difficult to adjust. Ladybug, on the other hand, was almost entirely blind. She could only see the akuma thanks to his Firefly-based suit. Unfortunately, this also meant that everything he and his firefly minions touched burst into flames._

 _"Chat, are you sure about this?"_

 _"You're always the one coming up with the plans, Milady. Now it's my turn to prove my worth."_

Adrien sighed. His nerves seemed electrified the way they reacted to every slight touch. He groaned. His head fared little better. There was something drilling against his temples. It beeped every now and then, and when it did, he felt the pressure on his temples increase tenfold. His breathing was labored, shallow. It felt difficult to get in even the slightest breathes without a sharp pain shooting up and down his ribcage.

He wanted to retreat back into the darkness. He wanted to pretend that the world around him could melt away into the comforting nothingness. If there was no sounds and nothing to touch, there wouldn't be any pain. Just comfort, silence...

Adrien conjured up an image of his mother. He remembered the way she used to lay down on the bed next to him and wrap her arms around his body. She'd put her cheek against his hair and sing the words to a French lullaby he could only partially remember.

He swore he could feel her fingers brushing against his skin. He could hear her sigh and sing with that gorgeous, gentle lilt of hers. "Wake up, Adrien. Please."

Wait, what?

The voice was familiar but definitely did not belong to his mother. The shock overcame his senses and, slowly, Adrien cracked open his heavy eyes.

At first, his vision was blurry. He could make out distorted shapes and fuzzy colors that seemed to bleed together. But after blinking a few times, his vision began to become more clear and focused. He started to make out the red curls that tumbled down like ocean waves reflecting the sunrise. He saw the round, copper optics that seemed to glimmer in the light. Alya looked down, and when she saw his eyes look back at her, she smiled.

"You're awake!" She gasped. "You're okay."

"O-of course I am." Despite his wheezing - odd, he thought - he tried to smile. There was a strange dry texture to his throat. It burned when he spoke, too, as if he'd just breathed in tons of smoke and ash. Adrien glanced around the room and propped himself up slowly on his elbows. His arms burned in protest and what felt like a knife plunged into his ribs. "Where am I?" He managed to choke out.

"The hospital. You got banged up pretty badly in the latest akuma attack. Some of your ribs were broken." Alya gently placed her hands on his shoulders and eased him back down onto the bed. "You should lay down." She advised.

Akuma. Flashbacks to the battle flared inside of his head. He remembered telling Ladybug about his plan. He remembered distracting the akuma while she executed it behind the scenes. He remembered the akuma striking his finger like a match against the building next door and jumping onto the roof next to him...

He remembered fire and smoke. He remembered screams and falling, and then...nothing.

Lines of confusion creased in his forehead as his eyebrows knitted together. Surely even if he had been injured in the battle, his lady would have resolved that with her miraculous ladybug? As if reading his thoughts, Alya gently took his hands into her own and ducked her head. "She...she got hurt, too." He could hear the tears in her voice as she spoke. "She's in a coma."

The way she sobbed pushed the knife in his chest deeper than before. When he strained his neck back to peer out the window in his lonely, white little room, he saw the orange silhouette of flames engulfing the west side of the city. If he hadn't known better, he'd have almost thought it was the sunset kissing him goodnight when the light brushed his cheeks.

"Don't worry." Adrien squeezed Alya's hands despite the small twinge of pain he felt ripple up his right forearm and shoulder. "Ch-Chat probably has a plan. He'll come through."

Adrien tried not to let the shadow in his heart show in his voice. He mustered up all the optimism he could get. But deep inside he knew they failed. Hawk Moth hadn't gotten the miraculous - he could still feel the weight of his ring on his finger - but they failed.

They failed the city.

They failed the people of Paris.

They failed their families and friends.

They failed the innocent.

They failed France.

 _They failed the world._

He knew the news would broadcast the destruction of the city on an international level. Sadness crashed over him like a tsunami dragging him out to sea. He let the currents pull him beneath the ocean of despair until he was drowning, choking on its waters.

Alya didn't look reassured. Her face crumbled more, her forehead creasing with worry lines that were beginning to permanently imprint in her skin. "Not with a concussion and a few knocked up ribs, he isn't. You're staying right here where I can keep on eye on you."

The meaning behind her words registered slowly in his already fuddled mind. "Wait, how did you...?"

"I was recording the battle like always for the Ladyblog. Before Chat - I mean, you - fell, you used cataclysm to try and destroy the akuma. But it didn't work. The akuma fazed right through your skin and multiplied. After you fell I knew you'd de-transform soon. I covered you up and then called an ambulance so no one would see. It was midnight and everything was on fire so most people weren't sticking around to watch their heroes..." She gulped. "There was a flash of light and I...I looked down and it was..."

"Me." He breathed. "Alya, I'm so sorry. I let you down. I never meant..."

"Don't say that!" Alya snapped.

"But I did! It was my plan this time. I was the one pulling the strings. I was the one that got everyone hurt!" Adrien pulled his hands back and turned his head away. "I don't deserve to be here." He meant to breathe it into the fabric of his pillow, a secret that would be washed away by the hospital nurses so everyone in Paris would hopefully forget that he was a miserable excuse for a hero - or sidekick, he thought bitterly. But Alya heard him.

"Adrien, no! You've done so much for this city. You've done so much for us! For me! You know when I saw you lying there, I kept thinking, what will we do without Chat? But most importantly, what would /I/ do without /you/?"

"Alya..."

"I know it's wrong of me! But I...I realized how much you mean to me."

"Nino's my best friend. I couldn't do that to him."

"I know. I'm sorry." Alya sighed. Adrien could hear her stand up from her seat. He looked up just in time to watch her brush some stray hairs from his eyes. "I just had to tell you. Just once. You mean a lot to me, Adrien."

Adrien blinked slowly. Then he allowed himself to smile. "You mean a lot to me too."

She pressed a kiss to his temple. Her lips were soft and gentle, like the brush of a butterfly's wings against his skin. Something inside of him stirred. He hadn't felt this light and airy since he first saw Ladybug stand up to Hawk Moth, much to the amazement of everyone in Paris. "Get better soon, okay?" She squeezed his hand. "Paris needs you. Ladybug needs you...I need you."

"I will." He said. Hope poured into him again. He failed. It stung to admit, to accept. They failed. But for Alya, for his rose, he would recover and he would fight.

And until Ladybug was back on her feet, he knew just the fox to stand by his side.


End file.
